Overambitious Dissertation, recs and more inside this issue

[rhivolution]

This post is mostly about my documentary, all non-interested parties can skip. In other words, I've started actual editing work on the Overambitious Dissertation.

I've pulled and imported clips from about ten different SF sources (by the way, I quite recommend the plugin DownloadHelper for Firefox), though I've yet to rip any DVDs (on my list: Back to the Future, Minority Report, X2--does anyone know what chapter contains 'have you ever tried not being a mutant'?, and possibly some of Matt's BSG and Cowboy Bebop).

I've also cut down two of my eleven interviews into manageable pieces, and let me be honest--at this point I'm sort of glad I didn't get a chance to interview more of you lovely people out there, because I have a glut of information. I'm going to feel guilty only using bits and pieces from the people I did speak to, even. I'd need a full-length doc (e.g. 90+ minutes) if I were to talk to the twenty or so people I was initially intending. So, I'm sorry if I never got back to you, or never sat down with you, because I am utterly overwhelmed as it is.

Frankly, fandom deserves that full documentary, and someday I hope I can make it, but this is not that day.

Today, I'm going to cut down a couple more interviews, then probably put up a website for the OAD itself. About two weeks ago, I met up with someone who suggested that I make full edited interviews available via Creative Commons; interestingly, this was a condition Sumana had asked when I sat down with her. I can't license the entire doc via CC due to the Fair Use Issue, but I'm going to get in touch with some of you to see if you'd be willing to allow yours out there as well.

Why? Because in all honesty, these narratives should be available to the community. No one has done any major video-based documentation of specifically woman-positive/social justice SFF fandom, at least that I've been able to find, and these are valuable documents of record, in my mind. That said, I can totally understand why people would not want their names/images available to the public, so I'm not going to lay a guilt trip on anybody either. It's just worth a thought, in lieu of the Great Fandom Documentary that has never materialised.

Hell, if someone gave me a hundred thousand pounds or a couple hundred thousand dollars and said 'go make this documentary', I'd be all over that, but money really is the biggest obstacle at the moment...

Carrying on from there to a couple other things that have rocked me of late:

- Music: I'm almost done with that Hunger Games mix. You're all excited, I know. I may have nicked the OpenTape idea from melloniel for my own use. Also, is Fleetwood Mac in the studio? I keep seeing bits and pieces to that effect.

- TV: The Good Guys (FOX, Friday 9/8c)
As you may have detected from my post the other day, I'm loving this show. It took a few episodes to really get its swing, but from thereon in, it becomes an amazing satire/pastiche of every kind of cop show of the last twenty-five years. If you like comedy, go back and start at about episode five. It's clever, non-linear, and doesn't take itself too seriously, not to mention Bradley Whitford and Colin Hanks have fantastic chemistry. (And if you're not watching solely because you're sketched out by pr0nstache Whitford, we are no longer speaking. It's about character.)

- Fanfic: The Completely Authorised, Un-sensationalised, Fact-Checked, Permissioned Biography of Dr. Faiza ‘Excalibur’ Hussain by dhobikikutti (gen, Captain Britain and MI: 13)
Hard knowledge of this comic series isn't necessary to enjoy this fic--anyone who's been living in Britain lately or who's interested in social history and/or cultural critique in fandom should have a read. The author makes the comic story relevant to the narrative of Muslim people in the UK today, and it is also damn fine writing.

- Webcomics: FreakAngels by Warren Ellis and Paul Duffield (NSFW)
Warren Ellis can be problematic, but damn, the man can tell a good story. I sped through the first twelve chapters of FreakAngels last night, and I'm really glad I've got nearly a hundred more to go. Another rooted-in-the-UK story, yeah, deal with it.

- Webstuff: Horizon: Mellow Mint userscript by gossymer (h/t bzzinglikeneon)
Ah, LJ, I don't know how to quit you, but I do find your changing banner and nav to be irritating. Luckily, Gossymer's coded something for those of us who'd like things straightforward. I'm not sure how it is in terms of accessibility, though--if someone more tech-savvy could have a look, that'd be ace.

- 'Lifestyle', whatever that means: Health Month
Thanks to inkstone, I'm now a Health Month beta tester. It's a nifty sort of tool/game to promote healthy lifestyle changes, it involves mental health rules as well as physical ones, and it's far less focused on IS YOU FAT than most challenges of this nature. I must say that accountability really does help (I'm keeping to only two caffeinated bevs a day, deep fried food only once a week, and trying to eat fresh fruit five times a week). If you want to change a pattern or two in your life and you're interested in getting on board for November, I'd say it's worth a try, though if you want more than three rules in your game, it'll cost you.

Oh, and thanks to that userscript, I've now installed Greasemonkey. Yes, I know, years too late...are there any other scripts anyone here recommends?

Comments

[mercredigirl]

I would love to see what you make of the OAD! I have come almost to the end of my term paper and it's been such a ride, but that is of course so tiny in scope compared to your OAD (well, duh: you're in higher ed, and I'm in high school); but the intersection of feminism and fan studies is clearly not something that I'm going to walk away from upon the completion of a book report. I've been reaaaaaally fascinated by the progress of your OAD and I hope the CC thing works out for you! All the best along the final stretch ^^

[rhivolution]

Thanks!

Hey, term papers aren't a little thing--I remember working like a dog on mine (US abortion rights and feminism in the 80s vs. the 90s). It was, iirc, nearly twenty pages...dear lord, that was nearly nine years ago. [stares into The Abyss of Old]

I'll probably publish the defence under Creative Commons once it's marked, FYI.

[mercredigirl]

You're not that old! *lies her head off* :P

If you're interested, the most recent draft is here :D

[royalarchivist]

It probably can't get you the 100s of thousands you need to make the full documentary, but Kickstarter can probably give you a, well, kickstart if you ever have the time to begin the documentary in earnest.

You'd almost certainly need to get additional funding from elsewhere, but it could be a good place to start some day. :)

(And if I already recced them to you in the past, please forgive me. I love the theory behind that website and share it with all my creative friends who need funding.)

[rhivolution]

You haven't, thanks for the info! I feel like I heard about it once in the mists of my brain, but only in passing.

[futuransky]

Feel free to put my interview out under creative commons, or anywhere you like.

I second the suggestion of Kickstarter if you want to find funds for a longer version of the doc.

[rhivolution]

Wicked, thanks--I'll probably need to send you a new release form, but I'll be in touch if that happens!

[brainwane]

Am looking forward to hearing more of what happens with your dissertation! And if you have the video file of my unedited interview somewhere I could grab it, that would be cool, although it's of course not urgent.

[rhivolution]

Definitely. Would you prefer the version that's released under CC to be unedited?

[brainwane]

If it's not too much trouble, maybe I could see both and choose after that?

[rhivolution]

Sure--the CC one would be the full interview in terms of words, just with any pauses ironed out (I think you drink a glass of water and I'm not speaking, in one part, for example).

[brainwane]

Oh, in that case, the edited one would be fine, both for me to grab from you whenever it's convenient, and for public release under CC when you're ready to be more systematic about that side of things.